Day 529 of Giving Thanks - Tina Wetor

 My favorite pastime is a good book, a cup of coffee, and my favorite blanket.  Regardless of what is happening around me, I can always get lost in a great book.  Books have always allowed me to have an imagination, creativity, and capture my heart or caused me to rethink my motives.  As the old saying, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”  Well, this statement is very true.  My personally library consists of commentaries, quote books, numerous Bibles, and some great authors such as Max Lucado. Currently, I am re-reading, Just Like Jesus, its better the second time around.  In the book, Max Lucado promoted a question I would love to share, “If God is perpetually present, is it possible to enjoy unceasing communication with him?”  After reading this question, I start to think about this, unceasing communication with God.  According to scripture, we are to pray without ceasing but is it possible? (I Thessalonians 5:17)

Everyone who has a busy schedule understands the importance of setting dates, keeping appointments, and struggle to keep life together.  I admit life sometimes can get us so busy, we forget to have those intimate times with God.  My heart can easily be drained from life if it’s not connected to the source of life.  Man became a living being through the breath of God, a breath.  It’s so beautiful and so profound, a breath can transform life.  It allows us to function, to live, and to worship.

During my sophomore year in college, my schedule was extremely difficult with my course load.  Besides attending college, working part-time, ministry, and planning my life with my future husband, I was exhausted.  My dorm room was on the end of the hall, it was the closest room to the prayer room.  So, I would walk past this beautiful room several times a day.  Sometimes, I felt guilty if I didn’t enter this room daily.  On a specific day, I walked with a heavy heart, so desiring to enter this room.  All through the day, my guilt was getting heavier as I passed by.   My heart yearned to close myself with God but my schedule was booked solid.  Inside my spirit, I spoke a little statement to the Lord, “I really miss today.”  Honestly, I was so surprised by God’s statement, “I miss you too.”  At that moment, I quickly unlocked my room dropped all my stuff on my bed and ran into the prayer room.  I couldn’t stand the emptiness inside my heart; I need to be intimate with God. It's those cherished moments of prayer we need to grow, nourish our soul, and belong.

My college president’s wife taught a course class called, “The Minister’s Wife.”  It was a course how to present oneself, her home, and to support her husband’s calling.  During the course, she said a power statement, “Your prayer time with God will change as you marry and have children.”  “It’s not wrong, it just changes.” As a single woman, I didn’t understand what she meant but now as a wife and mother, I understand.  During my single years, I would spend all night with God.  Oh, those days of being able to sleep in until noon, I don't believe will return again.  However, I truly love Max Lucado’s concept of prayer, it’s communication that never ceases.  It doesn’t have to be hours with God but it can be beautiful moments of loving exchange.  It can be a song of worship, a heart of praise, or a cry of desperation.  Whatever the case, I am challenged to pray without ceasing.  My heart’s desires is to with each moment, each breath, and with each step be in unison with God.  As David said, “As the deer pants or streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.” (Psalm 42:1)

As the day tasks function, I can feel the strain of those times; I should have been in prayer.  Although my soul yearns for those quiet moments, I am so grateful God is always with me.  Whether I pray in my secret closet, at dinner, or at my desk my heart is satisfied with a breath of His presence.